Top Ten Tuesday (107): Fairytale Retellings I’ve Read

Top Ten Fairy Tale Retellings

1. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (“Cinderella”): A classic among fairy tale retellings, and with good reason.

2. Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson (“Bluebeard”): I was surprised by the depth and complexity of the work, they way Nickerson portrayed the nature of temptation and evil. The protagonist suffers from sounding a little too modern (the story is set in the antebellum South), however.

3.The Crimson Thread by Suzanne Weyn (“Rumpelstiltskin”): It’s been years since I read it but I remember loving how Weyn set the story in 1880 New York rather than in a fantasy world.

4. Water Song by Suzanne Weyn (“The Frog Prince”): I have a weakness for retold fairy tales in historical settings, I guess. This one is set in Belgium during WWI.

5. The Goose Girlby Shannon Hale (“The Goose Girl”): I like how the Books of Bayern start off with a fairy tale retelling, but then branch off into their own unique world.

6. Entwined by Heather Dixon (“The Twelve Dancing Princesses”): I love a good story about sisters!

7. Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis (“Cupid and Pysche”): It’s not technically a fairy tale, but it’s such a good retelling with so much complexity that I felt compelled to sneak it in.

8. Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep by Gail Carson Levine (“Sleeping Beauty”): A bite-sized story full of humor and some great realism–would a princess look like after such a long nap? Would she had bed head?

9. Cinderellis and the Glass Hill by Gail Carson Levine (“The Princess on the Glass Hill”): This one retells a lesser-known fairy tale and features a male as the protagonist, so it is doubly original!

10. The Shadow of the Bear by Regina Doman (“Snow White and Rose Red”): The book is a little heavy-handed with its portrayal of Catholicism, but I give it points for setting a fairy tale in modern-day New York City.

Ahh the Twelve Dancing Princesses is a fairytale I put down on my list as one I’d like to read! I’m so glad I found your list so now I know about Entwined. I’ll make sure to pick it up as soon as I come back from holiday. Great list darling! ❤

ELLA ENCHANTED is my favorite kid’s book ever! STRANDS OF BRONZE AND GOLD is on my list, too! Ohh, the Once series! and Shannon Hale! And Entwined! Oh, and TILL WE HAVE FACES, I know what you mean! Eep, and I have the Regina Doman book but still have to read it! Great choices!

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BRIANA co-founded Pages Unbound in 2011. Her favorite genres are classic literature and fantasy. Adult, middle grade, and young adult books are all fair game. Briana runs the social media accounts for the blog.

KRYSTA co-founded Pages Unbound. She enjoys classic literature and fantasy, especially the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. She believes that all books should be read with hot chocolate (topped with marshmallows, of course).

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